Four militants killed in two attacks in Jammu

Jammu: Heavily armed suicide bombers stormed an army camp in a town near Jammu on Tuesday, triggering a fierce gunfight that left two attackers dead and six soldiers injured, officials said. Two more militants died in another shootout near the International Border here.

Police told IANS here that an unknown number of militants barged into the military camp near the headquarters of the Indian Army’s 16 Corps — a massive military formation that acts as a nerve centre to fight militancy and defend the borders in the Jammu region.

An officer said the militants carrying automatic weapons and explosives entered the field regiment camp around 5.30 a.m. They started firing indiscriminately at the Officers’ Mess inside the camp in Nagrota, some 15 km from here.

“Two militants were believed to have been killed and six soldiers were injured. The exchange of fire is still on as other militants are still holed up inside,” the police officer said.

The body of one of the slain gunmen had been recovered.

However, military spokesperson Lt. Col Manish Mehta refused to divulge details of the attack or the casualties.

“We will not confirm any casualty till the operation is over,” Mehta told IANS, adding that heavy exchange of fire was still on.

The Jammu-Srinagar highway, which runs through Nagrota, has been closed for traffic near the town after the security forces cordoned off the area.

As soldiers were battling the militants in Nagrota, another gunfight raged in Samba, some 40 km south of here.

A police officer said security forces engaged a group of infiltrators from Pakistan in a shootout near the International Border.

“The militants have been surrounded at the BSF camp and the encounter is going on. A BSF trooper was injured and two militants have been gunned down,” the officer told IANS.

The firing sparked an explosion and a fire at an ammunition dump, leaving four BSF troopers critically injured, the officer said.